Decisions on whether to replace an apparatus for performing work are typically made based upon the direct economic cost of the replacement or when the apparatus' functionality has been lost. Thus, for instance, an apparatus is typically replaced when the acquisition costs of a new apparatus is below some user-defined budgetary threshold or when the apparatus ceases to work. The budgetary threshold used to determine when the apparatus is to be replaced may involve other factors, such as, the depreciation or amortization of the existing apparatus and the potential for activity enabled by the new apparatus. As such, the decision of whether and when to replace the apparatus is entirely user-initiated, and is often based purely on functionality.
The user-initiated decision is thus highly subjective and thus lacks a robust quantitative consideration. Accordingly, the timing at which apparatuses are replaced often lacks optimization and thus apparatuses are often replaced before the apparatuses have been implemented for their entire useful lifetimes or after the apparatuses have exceeded their usefulness as compared with benefits available from new apparatuses.